Ranger stun-guns dog walker. You asked for it

It’s a lot of fun being a newspaper columnist. You get to pontificate on all kinds of matters, whether you know what you’re talking about or not.

But there is one quirk to the job. Sometimes something will happen and people will say, “You have to write a column about that.” Some of the suggestions are great, but sometimes it feels a little like playing tennis against a wall. There’s no opponent.

The latest example is the case of the dog walker in a San Mateo park, who was knocked flat by a stun gun wielded by a National Park Service Ranger. The man’s crime? He was walking his two small dogs off leash. When the Ranger tried to cite him he tried to walk away and was zapped.

OK, I get it. That’s a hot topic. People are talking about it.

So here’s my opinion: Park Rangers should not shock dog walkers with stun guns because their dogs are off leash.

OK. But where does it go from there? A good column is like a debate, a give and take between two opinions. But there is no American Militia in Support of the Random Use of Stun Guns.

There is a little more to the story. When asked for his name, the dog walker allegedly gave fake identification. The Ranger called it in, discovered it wasn’t his real name, and told him to wait while backup arrived. According to witnesses, the man asked repeatedly why he was being held and, getting no answer, began to walk away.

So she blasted him. The man ended up in the hospital, the story ended up all over the news, and friends are mine are demanding that I write a column about it.

So here it is: Stun gun use in that situation is excessive. It shouldn’t happen again.